Sunday, June 8, 2014

Easy Chocolate Ice Cream

Is it getting too hot to turn your oven on but you need something sweet? More importantly, are you running out of ice cream? I myself have an ice cream machine but I could probably count on the fingers of both hands how many times I've actually used it. I bought it during my more acquisitive phase of "stuff" and, at the time, I was totally enamored with the idea of making my own ice cream. A couple of things I forgot though: 1) cleaning the ice cream machine is a pain and 2) I don't actually love ice cream enough to want to deal with cleaning said machine on a regular basis.

Top view of the Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra Core

It's not that I don't like ice cream. I do. I'll eat it gladly when it's in front of me. I recently discovered Ben & Jerry's "core" flavors where they have a core of caramel or hazelnut fudge running through the middle of a pint of ice cream and have enjoyed that on occasion. One pint lasts me over a month, if I remember to eat it. But I rarely (never) crave ice cream and I can take it or leave it. It's only imperative when I need it to pair with something else (hello, molten chocolate cake and warm apple cobbler) and then it's only vanilla ice cream. But standalone ice cream isn't often on my dessert list, especially if it requires effort.

So it was a good thing when this recipe from Chocolate, Chocolate and More crossed my pinterest-roving eye. Billed as "easy" ice cream that could be made without an ice cream machine, it practically shrieked "try me!". And I listen when recipes shriek at me. There was truth in advertising as this recipe really was easy. The hardest thing (which isn't hard) is making sure you whip the heavy cream enough without overbeating it. Stiff peaks means when you lift the whisk attachment from the bowl, the peaks that form in the whipped cream should remain upright. If it falls over, you're only at soft peak. But if you overbeat it, the cream will break and curdle. Err on the side of underbeating if you think you're at risk of overbeating. If you do overbeat, try adding a little more cream and whipping it back into shape.

I froze this overnight. Okay, I actually froze it for 2 days before I remembered I had made it and should try it. The first spoonful was a pleasant confirmation that this tasted like "real" ice cream. It was smooth and creamy and very chocolaty. Whaddaya know, I just made ice cream. But two spoonfuls later and it got a little too rich for me. I think that was partly because I used a rich cocoa (Pernigotti) and partly because cream and sweetened condensed milk are rich. Plus, I've trained myself over the years to like the slow-churned, lighter ice cream as opposed to the super premium stuff, my experimenting with Ben & Jerry's Core ice cream notwithstanding. So the rich versions seem super rich to me. As with all sweets, a little goes a long way and this should be eaten in moderation. To cut some of the richness, try adding toasted nuts into the custard and/or as topping for the ice cream when you serve it.